''Thera cognata'', the chestnut-coloured carpet or Durham juniper moth, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala Un ...

in 1792. It is found in Europe,

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

and

Transcaucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 26–30 mm. The forewings are reddish brown. The median band and the basal field are darker in colour and these dark fields are delimited with black and white crosslines. The hindwings are whitish. ''Thera cognata'' is easily distinguished from ''

Thera variata ''Thera variata'', the spruce carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout Europe, North Asia and Japan. The common name spruce carpet is also used when referring to '' Thera britannica''. The length of the forewings is 1 ...

'' by its strong purple-brown or red-brown gloss. Hindwing a little more glossy than in ''

Thera obeliscata ''Thera obeliscata'', the grey pine carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found throughout north and central Europe and east across the Palearctic to Siberia, and south to the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. In the Alps it can be found a ...

''. The typical northern form is rather small and in general dark reddish. - ''geneata'' Feisth., the prevailing form in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

and in

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

, perhaps also in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

, is larger, somewhat paler and with a less definite red tinge, the ground colour being somewhat mixed with violet or purplish. — ab. ''perversa'' Hirschke is an aberration of ''geneata'', from the Franzenshohe, in which the basal and median areas of the forewing, instead of being darker than the ground colour of the wings, are lighter.Prout, L.B. 1912–16. Geometridae. In A. Seitz (ed.) ''The Macrolepidoptera of the World''. The Palaearctic Geometridae, 4. 479 pp. Alfred Kernen, Stuttgart. The larva is naked, light green with white longitudinal stripes.

Similar species

Itself variable ''Thera cognata'' closely resembles some forms of ''

'' In case of doubt, specialists should be consulted for determination.

Biology

Adults are on wing from July to August in one generation. The larvae feed on '' Juniperus'' species.

Subspecies

*''Thera cognata cognata'' *''Thera cognata geneata'' (Feisthamel, 1835)

References

External links

Chestnut-coloured carpet at ''UKMoths''''Fauna Europaea''''Lepiforum e.V.''
Cidariini Moths of Europe Moths of Asia Taxa named by Carl Peter Thunberg {{Cidariini-stub